Schools Guide 2016

Ardingly College

Peter Green has moved on to Rugby, leaving Ardingly in the very capable hands of Ben Figgis (formerly deputy head of Oakham) and his wife, Joanna. School numbers are up – and results too: 74 per cent A*–B at A-level; IB scores are regularly in the top 10 nationally. The school beat 600 others to win the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench competition, so – says Mr Figgis – ‘officially has the best chemistry students in the UK’. The Ardingly version of PSHE is Eudaimonia (‘flourishing’ in Greek) – they devote whole days to the subject to make sure pupils are clued up on wellbeing. ‘We also reach the parts the exam system does not reach,’ says Mr Figgis. There’s the solar car, for example, built with the support of McLaren, Jaguar Land Rover and Cambridge University, which will be racing in the World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide – Ardingly is the only school outside Australia ever to enter the event. Dame Judi Dench is patron of the school’s Artsfest, a festival attended by students from state and independent schools. The U18 football team won the ISFA cup for the first time in 17 years; they’re strong on hockey and netball too, with lots of former England players on the coaching staff. Oh, and the cricket 1st XI beat the MCC. Our spy’s verdict: ‘A safe choice for parents.